From this report
I’ll note that California is a bit unusual, having imposed energy efficiency standards on buildings decades ago (much of the US didn’t) and having actively taken steps to substitute solar, wind, and storage for fossil-fuel based electric generation
EVs make up a very small percentage of the market. The majority of cars are gas powered, and more people are buying more cars, so it’s not like the number of gas cars is decreasing, just some of the additional cars are EV. It was be very hard for California to be climate neutral while it’s still so dependent on cars.
25% of all vehicles sold, and 4% of vehicles on the road in 2022. Considering the continued growth it’s likely higher by now. That’s not a huge number but it’s starting to be enough to bring emissions down, especially in combination with the decarbonization of the electric grid.
However, I agree that the best and easiest solution is to move away from the private automobile as the main mode of transit.
Sure, but there are likely 4% more cars on the road now than there were in 2019. One graph I see shows about a 1% YoY growth of the car population in the US. EVs might have saved us from a 4% increase in car emissions, but car emissions are still increasing. I am really not convinced that EVs are the solution to the US’s massive car emissions. Ban production of all gas cars in 2024 and then maybe there’s a solution in sight.